The Hancock Inn is poised for the next step toward reopening this week. 

On Friday, town Building Inspector Bob Garside will visit the Main Street site for the purpose of a decision on a certificate of occupancy for the building. Contingent upon passage, the inn could move closer to reopening for the first time in over two years. Linda Coughlan, secretary of the town’s Planning Board, confirmed this step on Wednesday, which was shared at the Select Board meeting on Tuesday.  

The inn dates from 1789 but closed in 2022 when Jarvis and Marcia Coffin sold the property to 33 Main St LLC, a Boston-based real estate concern. Speaking for the new owner at the time of the sale, Kerri Landry told the Ledger-Transcript that the inn would reopen that summer. Later, the firm’s website targeted 2024 as when the operation would resume. 

The re-envisioning of the site has included the removal of a picket fence around the property and a “Hancock Inn” sign, both of which were matters that engaged the town’s Historic District Commission prior to their approval. 

“A multimillion-dollar renovation will take place on the property,” Landry told the Ledger-Transcript in 2002.

The current owner paid $1.15 million for the 11,000 square-foot building on 1.4 acres.

Property tax rate set

In other news, the town has set a property tax rate of $25.11 per $1,000 of assessed value up from $24.15 per $1,000. On a house valued at $200,000, the bill will increase from $4,830 to $5,022.

“This rate is tentative,” said Town Administrator Jonathan Coyne after Monday’s Select Board meeting, explaining that it is subject to the state’s Department of Revenue Administration.

The local school portion of the 2023 rate was $13.45, which has risen to $14.07 this year. The state education tax element of the town rate is $1.68, up from $1.55 last year.

“Sixty-five percent of the increase is the schools,” Coyne added after Monday’s meeting. “Folks may get upset, but we don’t indiscriminately raise taxes.”